Ajou Ajou's spring performance shows he's close to breakthrough

Ajou led all receivers with six catches for 102 yards in the spring game (ACC photo).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Apr 10 08:01:03 GMT-04:00 2021

Someone inside the Clemson football program told me earlier this week that wide receiver Ajou Ajou is one of the more personable players he’s ever met, and that the Canadian native has such an outsized personality he could make a living in Hollywood. Ajou isn’t quite ready for the bright lights of Tinseltown, but he’s closer to being ready for the stadium lights of college football.

The Brooks, Alberta, product (by way of Clearwater, Florida) led all receivers with six catches for 102 yards and a touchdown in last week’s spring game. The touchdown came on 16-yard strike from quarterback Taisun Phommachanh in the back left corner of the end zone with 13:20 left in the game and jump-started a fourth-quarter comeback that led to a 14-13 victory for Ajou's White squad.

It capped a spring in which the wide receiver project continued to make strides and a push for significant playing time when next September rolls around.

Head coach Dabo Swinney called Ajou a natural.

"He can make plays," Swinney said about Ajou. “He's a natural when it comes to attacking the ball. His confidence at an all-time high, he's just, you know, like most everybody he's progressing. He's the best version of him that we've seen. And you saw some things out there (Saturday) that we've seen on the practice field from a confidence standpoint. He still makes some mistakes and busted a couple of times out there. He didn't run the right route or converted, he shouldn't have converted."

Despite the mistakes, Ajou is playing the game faster.

“He's what I love, he's playing full speed," Swinney said. "He's not hesitating. He loves (to be) coached and loves to compete and he's a unique guy. "He's very different from some of the other guys that we have and I think he's a guy, we'll be able to use in a lot of different ways, as he goes through his career."

Swinney said Ajou has plenty of time to perfect his craft but needs consistency if he wants to play in the fall.

“He's got four years left as well so he's an exciting young prospect," Swinney said. "And now it's good to see him make some big, big plays (Saturday) that's going to be huge for his confidence and his motivation going into the summer, what he needs to do to get himself ready to really help this team because both those teams will come together as one. It's gonna be very competitive. It's going to come down to who can perform consistently for us day in and day out, and he's got a chance to do that."

Offensive coordinator Tony Elliott agreed with Swinney’s assessment

"We all know, having done this for a while, you're dealing with college guys and having experience, you know when (Ajou's) more consistent with the little things, you know off the field, then it's going to transition to the field," Elliott said. "For him, it's not the big things. Man, the guy can run, jump, he can make every catch. He's physical, he's gotten even bigger. It's just the consistency to be able to do that play in and play out and that's where he has to grow up."